Scalloped Keuka Gold Potatoes

TOTAL TIME  1 hour 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons butter, more for greasing pie plate

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, minced

4 small cipollini onions, minced

1 tablespoons minced Rosemary

3 cups heavy cream

2 pounds (about 6 medium) Keuka Gold potatoes (unpeeled), sliced 1/8-inch thick

Salt

ground white pepper

PREPARATION

 

1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish glass pie plate.

2.

In a wide saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons butter, garlic, leek and onions. Place over medium-low heat and sauté until mixture is light golden, about 15 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons tarragon, the cream and potatoes, and mix well. Simmer gently until potatoes are barely tender, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

3.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to pie plate, spreading them evenly and pressing lightly to compact them. Drizzle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream from pan. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until top is light golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped tarragon, and serve.

Honey Lemon Refridgerator Pickles

6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
2 cups thinly sliced onions
¾ cup honey
1 cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon mustard seed
½ teaspoon celery seed

Place cucumbers and onions in large glass bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook and stir until honey is dissolved. Pour hot liquid over cucumbers and onions, toss well, and let cool. The cucumbers will give off some of their juices; keep them submerged in the liquid while they cool. Transfer pickles to 3 pint jars, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. They will keep for a week or so. Makes 3 pints.

Mashed Rutabaga and Apples with Onions

1 large Rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
1 mild to sweet apple, peeled, cored, and quartered
3 Tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
Quarter cup milk
Salt

Heat one tablespoon butter and the oil in a large skillet and add onion. Continue to sauté over medium heat until the onions brown. Add salt and set aside covered.
Add rutabaga and salt to a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering for 15 minutes. Add apple and continue simmering for 10-15 minute or until both are soft. Drain and return to the saucepan with 2 tablespoons butter and mash well. Stir in milk and serve topped with onions.

Delicious paired with the Celeriac Salad.

Braised Savoy Cabbage and Apples

One savoy head, quartered, cored and sliced thinly and soaked in water
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1 large green apple, peeled cored and sliced into matchsticks
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds.

Heat oil in a large stainless steel/non-reactive skillet. Add onions and cook until golden. Add cabbage directly from water to pan with the onions along with the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook of very medium-low heat until the cabbage is very soft, about and hour and a half, adding boiling water if needed during the process.

New Potato Gratin with Tomatoes

2 pounds new potatoes
Salt and fresh pepper
4 medium tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 onions, quartered and sliced thinly
¼ cup dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced thinly
1/3 cup kalamata or nicoise olives, pitted and chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400. Boil potatoes in salted water for 4 minutes and pull them out –don’t dump the water! Rinse potatoes in cold water to stop them from cooking further. Plunge tomatoes in the hot water for 20 seconds each and rinse with cold water. Peel off the skin, quarter, and remove the seeds. Coarsely chop ¾ of tomatoes and thinly slice the rest.

Heat half the oil in a skillet and add the onions, thyme and pepper. Sauté until the onions wilt completely and begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add this mixture to the bottom of a baking dish and layer in all the ingredients, finishing the top with more salt and pepper as well as the remaining oil. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and finish for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes and fully tender.

Homemade Chicken Broth

It’s easy to make your own broth to use in cooking or as the basis for soups. It’s healthier, too, than buying canned broth, since you can control the amount of salt you add and can remove fat from the stock after cooking.
Use stewing chickens, chicken backs, or the leftover carcass from a roast chicken. Place the chicken in a large stockpot with yellow onions with the skins on (to add color), celery ribs, carrots, bay leaves, whole peppercorns, thyme, and salt.
Cover the ingredients with water and bring to a boil. Remove any debris that floats to the top, reduce to a simmer, and cover.
Once done, strain the liquid to remove the vegetables, bones, and any meat pieces. Let the stock cool completely and refrigerate. Remove any fat that congeals at the top.

Cooking time: three to four hours.

Basic Mirepoix

2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 table spoons butter
salt and fresh pepper
fresh herbs coarsely chopped parsley, thyme, and marjoram and favorites.

Heat a large skillet of sauteed pan over medium heat. Once hot, add butter. Once melted add remaining ingredients and sauteed gently over medium heat until the vegetable soften.

Water can be added to this to form a simple stock. Try starting your favorite soups, stews and casseroles with this base, adding ingredients to the finished mirepoix. A mirepoix is used either to season stews, soups, sauces, and fricasses or as a base for braising meats or fish. In this recipe, mirepoix refers to equal parts of finely diced carrot, onion, and celery.